At the age of only 13, Cheryl Briggs' hitchhiking adventure across the United States turned into a nightmare she will never forget.

Today, however, Briggs, now 50, is taking those dark years of her life and dedicating herself to helping other women who are victims of human trafficking. Briggs is the founder of the Mission at Serenity Ranch, a nonprofit organization that will provide victims the help they need to heal from years of emotional and physical abuse.

"When I was a teenager, it happened to me," Briggs said. "It has taken me years to heal. This path became really clear to me that all the stuff I have been through I can use to help these women. From where I came from, I feel grateful - my life is good."

According to the FBI, human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery. More than 18,000 victims are trafficked into the United States each year, with more than half of them under the age of 18. Human trafficking is the fastest-growing criminal industry in the world, and it is tied with the illegal arms industry as the second-largest criminal industry in the world today.

While Briggs has her nonprofit status, she is in the process of finding a location to house the program and is building her board of directors.

Briggs, a victim of sexual abuse herself, has designed a plan and budget for the organization to house four women the first year of the program and eight the second year. She even has arranged for different groups, organizations and businesses to help the women through donating services. She hopes to find someone who will donate a home to begin helping victims soon.

"If we have to rent at first to get the doors open, I'll take it," she said.

Briggs said her program will provide the girls and women therapy and a safe place to rest and heal. She then will transition them into programs where they can get vocational training or attend schools so they can find good jobs.

"I also have a spiritual component and that is there is a purpose for your life," she said. "If you can find that purpose and whatever you have gone through can be used to help someone else, then you transcend that shame and guilt."

Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia said law enforcement now recognizes that the common scenario in human trafficking is prostitution.

"There are very few people that grow up wanting to be subjected to selling their bodies," he said. "Rather they are forced to do it in circumstances that are beyond their control. We have it in our own back yard."

Human trafficking is a growing problem in the United States, including Texas, Briggs said. Many young girls are lured into human trafficking at the age of 12. Many times, they are children who have run away, are homeless or have even been sold by their parents or other family members to traffickers.

Growing up in an abusive home, Briggs found herself alone and desperate at age 5 after her mother left to escape the physical abuse in the home. When Briggs was 12, her mother was killed in a plane crash.

"I ran away six months later because I believed my mother was going to rescue me, you know, come back and save me from my father," Briggs said. "In 1967, there were no battered women's shelters, so when you left, you had to leave your children behind."

"At 13, I figured out it (leaving) had to be better than here with my father."

Briggs started hitchhiking around the United States, riding with truck drivers, going from truck stop to truck stop. At one stop, a man on a motorcycle picked her up. Thinking of the fun and freedom of being on the back of bike, Briggs willingly went with him and was taken to the biker's clubhouse where she was held for several months and abused by different men. It took Briggs years to escape the industry.

"I didn't have a family to ask for help," she said. "I was young; I couldn't provide shelter for myself or food. I was having survival sex just to eat and have shelter. It was pretty rough."

Garcia said these young women are victims and his department has a dedicated unit to investigate human trafficking and has developed partnerships with the FBI and the Attorney General to help combat the problem.

"There are more and more agencies throughout Texas that are paying attention to this issue," Garcia said.

While Montgomery County law enforcement officials have not seen as big of a rise in trafficking, MCSO Lt. Dan Norris said it is out there and often connected with other crimes.

"We have not seen significant indicators of human trafficking in Montgomery County," he said. "However, law enforcement agencies are aware that the trafficking of persons many times comes to light due to other crimes (such as) murder, aggravated assault, sexual assault and others; and many times a suspect could be arrested and charged with one of the other crimes."

He said the MCSO also partners with other agencies to address the problem.

"The Sheriff's Office deputies and investigators maintain vigilance when investigating crimes to determine a complete picture of the events and causations and this could lead to investigations concerning human trafficking," he said. "Our office maintains a working relationship with federal agencies who investigate human trafficking and immigration issues."

For the women who escape the deplorable conditions, rehabilitation and counseling is critical, Briggs said. Most of the victims are accustomed to being controlled and they often fall back into the cycle if they do not get the right help.

Garcia said programs designed for the victims of trafficking are critical.

"You have to give victims hope that they don't have to continue to do this," Garcia said. "Anything that an (organization) can do to give them the skill set and counseling to put this behind them is a good thing."

For Briggs, she hopes that telling her story and dedicating herself to the problem will save another girl's life and bring awareness to the community.

"It could be your neighborhood or mine," she said. "It could be your daughter, niece or grandchild. Every 26 seconds, another girl is inducted into the commercialized sex trade and she is gone."